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Should Sarah Palin Run For Reelection?

Should Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin run for reelection in 2010? AP Photo/Chris Miller

Although Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has yet to make a final decision on whether to run for reelection in 2010, there is a strong argument to be made that if she wants to be a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 her best bet would be to take a pass on a second term.

That line of argument is sure to get more attention in the wake of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (Minn.) decision yesterday to abandon a bid for a third term to allow him more time to focus on a potential national bid in 2012.

And, with current Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney (Mass.) already in full-time campaign mode, a Palin retirement in 2010 doesn't seem like such a far-fetched idea.

Here's why:

• Geography is Destiny: Being from Alaska is a HUGE hurdle for Palin's national ambitions from a logistical point of view. Alaska is four hours behind east coast time and takes the better part of a day to travel to or from. That means that Palin, if she is committed to running for reelection, can't simply pop into Iowa or New Hampshire for the day -- she needs to take at least two days away from Alaska (a fact her Democratic opponents are sure to take note of) to do the sort of soil-tilling in these early primary and caucus states that is absolutely necessary for a presidential candidate. If she announces some time soon that she will not be running for a second term, she will not only be more free to travel to key states between now and 2010 but will be able to devote full time to campaigning in the critical year between January 2011 and January 2012.

• Not A Good Time to Be Governor: While every politician in the country wanted to be a governor earlier this decade (budget surpluses, a chance to innovate), the political landscape has shifted significantly as the economy has collapsed. Governors all over the country face serious political peril as a result -- with voters almost certain to be unhappy about the measures that their chief executives will need to take to close budget gaps. Palin is not immune from this trend; she drew heavy criticism from some in the state for her decision to institute a hiring freeze for the state government in January in an attempt to save cash. (She has since lifted the freeze. Given the budgetary realities facing Palin, a campaign for a second term would revolve around how she would solve this crisis -- a conversation from which no good can come since the only two solutions are to raise taxes or cut services.

• Building a Machine: Palin has begun -- in fits and starts -- to build a national political apparatus of the sort required to run for president. But, she has met with trouble around nearly every corner, with miscommunication between her team in Alaska and her team in Washington as the constant theme. To be taken seriously as a presidential candidate by Washington's chattering class -- a not unimportant part of the "Invisible Primary" process -- Palin must rehab her image, which has taken a serious hit since she was chosen by Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) as his running mate. The best way to win over the smart set of the GOP is to make a few savvy hires for her political action committee. The only way for Palin to do that is to spend more time in Washington, not only hiring smart operatives but also just chatting with neutral GOP strategists about how she should be positioning herself and what she can do to remake her image. For those who pooh-pooh the idea of Palin "going Washington," remember that winning a party's presidential nomination requires not only the loyalty and energy of activists, which Palin clearly has, but also the guiding hand of men and women who have been through this process before and know what to expect and how to handle it.

Agree with our argument? Disagree? The comments section is open for business.

SP has a credibility problem nationally, not locally in Alaska. If she should run for senator & win, she would still be working for Alaska, but she would be on the national scene. She needs national experience!

Alaska has a bit of a problem "nationally". A large political group in Alaska has supported Alaska to become a country of their own. Palin's husband has a history with this group and SP has given speeches praising the group. If SP wants to succeed as VP or president, she has a lot of damage control to do. Her family is more a liability than a positive factor in her life.....especially her husband and two eldest children. If she continues as Alaska's governor, she won't have enough power to deal with damage control. She will not be heard from enough on the national scene and she will not have enough time to polish her own positive abilities to succeed in the highest government offices.

The "you betcha(s)" work in Alaska, they might work with some Americans, but overall, it doesn't work across the country. She needs to have more going for her than an ability to shoot "game", grill mooseburgers and say "you betcha".

Sarah Palin has done a superb job as govenor of Alaska.There have been no negative coments directed at her, only praises from her constuents. The only negative remarks come from low life and democrats who don't know her very well.

Sarah Palin has a credibility problem. People think she is incompetent and unqualified to run a real government. The solution to this is to prove competence and that means showing success as Governor of Alaska. Without being governor, her ability to show her abilities and qualifications is severely diminished—if she makes a policy speech, everyone will say she is well scripted (just as at the GoP convention) but that she can't perform.

Leroy, I don't think SP is an idiot. I do believe she did herself a great deservice running for VP in the last election. She came off as ignorant and prejudiced. She had no idea how to answer questions in interviews and even her debate with Joe Biden was sarcastic and condesending....with no true substance. She has some big family problems with her husband & her eldest children. She not only has to educate herself on several levels, her family has to change themselves....on several levels. I agree with you, four years is not enough time. Perhaps in eight years, people will forget how divisive she was in this last campaign, how poorly she performed in interviews etc. It might serve her better to run as senator for Alaska. Should she win, she will receive experience on a national level, working in several areas of government etc. She will learn to work with senators from other states & political parties in comittees concerned with national well being, not just with Alaska's well being. She will have to tactfully learn to work with & next to people of all races and cultures and religious paths. She will be seen and heard from far better and more often as a senator than a governor within her party and again.....on a national level. She might be a terrific senator and she might be able to polish her tarnished image. All of this could help her if in the future she choooses to run for a higher national office. Staying stuck in the governor's office of a state that on purpose secludes themselves from the other 49 states will not help her succeed on the national scene.

Her family also has to change themselves. Her husband especially cannot be seen as using her & the governor's office to benefit his personal "gains".

Yes I agree she needs more education, but I think that education will come in the form of more experience in leadership, which is why she should run for governor for another four year term. While she serves as governor she can continue to polish her PAC and her "machine," while simultaneously meeting with world leaders as often as she can. She should start voicing her opinions on world issues. That way, by 2016 she could be a formidable candidate.

Don't get me wrong, I don't WANT any of this to happen. But it might. Democrats should get ready for it.

"• Building a Machine: Palin has begun -- in fits and starts -- to build a national political apparatus of the sort required to run for president. But, she has met with trouble around nearly every corner, with miscommunication between her team in Alaska and her team in Washington as the constant theme..."

(...) Engineering such a "machine" is possible, in your country's history it has, unfortuntely, been done before...

Putting laughs aside though, wouldn't it be more constructive, both from a moral and a political perspective, to encourage such "potential" candidates to take 3 years off to go back to school, and get some sort of education??? ...or at least consider getting a brain transplant or something???

(ok, for those that like SP, i admit, that last comment was not very nice, please note though that it was meant to make you smile...)

As I said, I am a Democrat and I voted for Obama. Just because I see Sarah Palin as having a political future does not mean I will ever vote for her. I was simply pointing out that it is probably in her best political interest to stay in AK and build a record.

As a Democrat, I don't think it is wise to write Sarah Palin off as a complete idiot. I do not believe she is an idiot and I think if she plays her cards right she has an incredible prospect of running a strong national campaign. If we are smart about it, we will be able to come up with an effective strategy to counter her arguments.

Obama began his tour of the Middle East and Europe in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, before moving on to Egypt, where on Thursday he delivered a key speech on American and Muslim relations.

In the 55-minute address -- billed as a fence-mending effort between the United States and Islam -- the president urged those in the Cairo audience and the people across the globe viewing the speech on television to enter a new, productive and peaceful chapter of relations.

I am a Democrat and voted for Obama. However, I admit that while I may not agree with many of Governor Palin's positions, I see her as a strong contender for future party leadership.Posted by: LeroyPancakes | June 5, 2009

Whoa. I like to read as many of other people's ideas as possible before contributing my own thoughts, but there are too many, so I will glean what I can.

In the interest of full disclosure I will announce that I am a Democrat and voted for Obama. However, I admit that while I may not agree with many of Governor Palin's positions, I see her as a strong contender for future party leadership.

However, she is as of yet only 45 years old. She has plenty of time. To run in 2012 and lose would be the end of her. She remains incredibly popular in the GOP so why waste her so quickly. She should continue to be a strong voice of opposition to the Democratic majority in Congress and the Obama administration, meanwhile building a career of policy success in Alaska. As the vicious reaction to the Katie Couric interview demonstrated, her personal appeal will not be enough to carry her (especially in 2012 against Obama). She will need to amass a record.

There is nothing wrong with amassing a record as governor of a small state. bill Clinton spent four years as governor of Arkansas and had some significant accomplishments to campaign on in '92. If I were Sarah Palin's adviser, I would tell her to run in 2010 and run hard. She is likely to easily win reelection. She should let Pawlenty or Sanford take the fall to Obama in 2012 meanwhile she keeps a little more quiet as she governs Alaska. When her next term expires in 2015, she takes some foreign trips to boost her foreign policy creds. She reemerges in 2016 with a strong record, no less popular among GOP voters and with a serious chance of success.

So to provide an unnecessarily long answer to your question, yes, she should run for governor again in 2010.

Regardless the issues and SP's stance, or lack of "stance" on the issues, should she try a run for national office, her family will be vetted deeper than anything done in the previous national election. Neither Palin's husband or oldest children will come out positive in the vetting.
Another problem will be Palin's "religious" values. I think Americans had enough of Bush's right winged evangelical rhetoric and do not want to deal with Palin's "whatever" values. Palin is great in divisive tactics. We listened to her push her divisive tactics in the last election. We need leaders who work to be inclusive, not divisive. So far Palin shows herself to be a woman for the uneducated person who has a limited thought process, whose bragging prowess goes to shooting animals by helicopter and serving moose burgers to visitors. Her ineptness during interviews exceeded only by her abilities to create anger, prejudice and hate. No, she cannot possibly relate to enough Americans to do anything positive. Her family won't withstand anything more than surface vetting and finally...."guns & God" will not make a strong enough platform to win over any but the far RW American.

So many of the comments on this tread display the same 'lack of curiosity' and 'being uniformed'--traits that they are so quick to attribute to Governor Palin. For example, take two 'liberal' issues; gay rights and green policies like increasing renewable energy sources. In 2007, as Governor, Palin vetoed a bipartisan attempt by the Alaskan Legisalture to rescind marraige benefits for same-sex couples in Alaska. A consultitative ballot had also shown that the Alaskan voters favoured the ban. While there were constitutional issues, Palin was following in Reagan's libertarian footsteps. On Green issues, Alaska is has already reached the overall US 2030 target of 25% energy from renewable sources; Governor Palin has set Alaska's 2030 taget at no less than 50%! In her other policy initiatives Palin has 'crossed the isle' and has achieved strong Democratic support. Contrary to perceptions her bitterest enemies are on the Conservative Right, not the Left. Nor does this relatively secular state (Gallup)with a large proportion of middle-of-the-road Independent voters (43%) have a problem with her obviously sincere personal faith. I would rate Palin's grasp of economic reality far higher than McCain's and certainly higher than Obama's. Once the misperceptions peal away and her real profile and accomplishment become known, she will be a strong contender.

Sarah is acontinued asset for the gop but this article does point to a fact regarding out geography and time etc. Sarah has experienced difficulty with her pac a fact that all do when first formed. I would agree that if Sarah is going to run for election in 2012 she does need to decide soon to not run in 2010 for reelection. We would terribly miss her as she has been the absolute best governor ever!

When I my eyes first glanced at the heading, "Should Sarah Palin Run for Re-election", my first reaction was.... lol, lol, and more lol! She's a joke. She shouldn't run for anything! She's an embarrassment to women. But why would Any Republican run anyways?! They are so Screwed up! What num-nuts!

It's amazing how the Democrats can form an uniform opinion about anyone especally someone whom has never done them any harm.Could it be just in case the Republicans can get their act together, then it could get alot tougher for them to persuade the American voters that Sarah Palin is a makeover of George Bush.

Gov. Palin while charming is appearance more than substance. She is more interested in doing a People magazine interview, bashing her grandson's father and doing photo opportunities than doing what is necessary for the American voter to take her seriously. I am a conservative, a woman and I find her more fluff than facts. I seriously doubt her ability to run a country, a state or even her family.
True confession: Voted for McCain/Palin as merely a vote against Obama. I would have voted for Richard Nixon if they had dug him up and put him on the ticket.

SP's family will need a sort of rehab to refabricate them. She has a daughter who had a baby without benefit of marriage. She has a son who was known as the party boy before his inlistment and she has a husband who is known for using too much influence in his wife's government dealings and decisions. Sarah could work at revamping herself so she could appear educated and wise. This would be an extra-ordinary feat if she could pull it off. However, revamping her family and family history of shenanigans might open a "Pandora's Box" she will never be able to close.

Sarah Palin showed courage on taking on the masculine Republican establishment. The USA will be so refashioned by 2012 it will no longer be recognizable. To run will mean she requires powerful,wealthy backers with extraordinarily bright advisors. The press last year, in the end, vilified her and while Hilary Clinton fared better clearly the favorite was Obama. My personal advice would be. "Enjoy being the Alaska Governor and, enjoy your life, family and children."

It will not be long before the "powers that be" of the GOP will pressure her to stand aside for the good of what's left of the party.

==

I haven't seen any sign of GOP retreat from the fringes. All their appeals are still aimed at the teabaggers and the people who have the strongest support for the GOP tend to be those who have the weakest hold on reality. David Brooks says it will be three more presidential election cycles before they finally twig that the route back to power isn't to hope for another terrorist attack, economic collapse, or presidential failure, but rather some hint that they can be trusted with governance.

Before they can get there they have to grow up and admit they screwed up. They're nowhere near that. To hell with the GOP.

All other considerations aside, I think there is a real possibility that she could run for re-election- AND LOSE. That would take care of her once and for all. The people of Alaska have learned a lot about their governor in the past year. I would think that a good many were not happy with what they found. The simple truth, Palin is just running out of options. It will not be long before the "powers that be" of the GOP will pressure her to stand aside for the good of what's left of the party.

She "lacks depth" on energy and crude oil / natural gas production in particular? Name me ONE State Governor with more experience. Maybe Jindal or Perry, but that's obviously no good for you either, right? As for "foreign affairs" every STATE Governor lacked experience with that. Please tell me vast experience Obama had?

I suspect that Governor Palin is smart but I seriously doubt her intelligence. The good news for her is that she has about 3 years to prepare for any debate she may yet have with President Obama. She lacks depth on every important issue of our time; particularly foreign affairs.

One hope for our nation and possibly her potential candidacy would be that the Republican Party develops policies that speak to America's middle class; beyond saying "no" to just about everything we care about.

My assessment: She is intellectually weak and won't do well against the Republican field. Eggheads moderates will excel in their articulation of things important.

Tomorrow should be a fun day. Obama is speaking to Muslims and the trolls are probably all lined up on their knees with mouths open waiting for the little white drops of the day's phrases. We should see a revival of the Manchurian thing, more BS about "apologizing," you know the drill I'm sure. I love it when they're all hopping mad.

Isn't another name for Satan the "prince of liars?" I mean, if I believed in some omniscient and vengeful God and I lied as much as the trolls do I would be a little worried about the ol' afterlife thing and the big trapdoor awaiting me ...

You're another cretinous devotee of that nutbar American Independent Party, dottydo, I mean what are the chances of having two of them in the same blog? It's like getting a hundred heads in a row on a coin toss.

You've worn out the "narcisstic personality disorder" thing, by the way. Obama is popular because he's likeable. Deal.

If Palin runs for POTUS, who is going to watch out for Putin's ugly head to rear out from Russia. Will the GOP have stimulus/bailout money to finance a presidential wardrobe from Saks, Neiman-Marcus, etc., for her? Will there be another "baby-daddy" situation? Will McCain be her running mate? Too many questions to ponder! LOLLOLLOL!

"It wouldn't take much to out debate Obama, let alone defeat him in 2012. He is just an ignorant, socialist blowbag, who will fall flat on his face way before then. Sarah Palin is way more intelligent than him."

...lmao
...that is simply the funniest thing I have read in a while!!!
(thank you ---for the laughs)

Gosh...
I really hope Palin runs for the 2012 Republican nomination!
Obama is just too serious and intelligent!

Here in Canada our politicians are simply boring...
Palin makes us laugh. After the 2012 election, I hope she considers taking up a comedy host position on the tonight show, or something like that, maybe a weird reality show...

You have a really interesting political system: allowing religious lunatics such as W into the oval office, or actually seriously debating if an intellectually challenged (funny) figure such as Palin consider becoming a presidential candidate...

Mc Cain couldn't do it. Forget already? What part of the statements couldn't you understand. Its not 2012. Palin hasn't debated Obama and she hasn't run against him. she only debated Biden and tore him apart.

It wouldn't take much to out debate Obama, let alone defeat him in 2012. He is just an ignorant, socialist blowbag, who will fall flat on his face way before then. Sarah Palin is way more intelligent than him.

Palin was picked as Hail Mary pass by the inept McCain campaign since it was failing and had nowhere to go and needed some star power or somehow to change the subject(s). Limbaugh loved her, so McCain never even interviewed her and off they went. When it soon became shockingly evident how even more incompetent she was, they went right off the cliff. And the Obama-hating wackaloon kool-aiders think *she* is their salvation?

She's already peaked; she's increasingly unpopular in Alaska and she's unelectable as President (thank heaven). Her best move is to change professions.

Ms. Palin is a sham. The Couric interview turned my stomach.
As the mother of daughters I hope women who become senators, judges, governors give it their all, seeking excellence in their respective jobs. These are the women I want them to emulate. Ms. Palin seems determined to avoid the hard work. Instead of seeking answers to problems through careful analysis she relies on the same old sound bites we have heard from the furthest right in her party.
She is easy to tune out. She is a burnout as governor and behaves more like a empty suit cheerleader. Maybe public relations would suit her best. And, please! Enough of the dysfunctional family! I know evangelicals love the sin/forgive cycle. But, good grief! Enough is enough!!!

If MSM is off the air and the NY Times is gone, she will have a decent chance of winning or at least be a vice pres. candidate.
When Alaska proves to be one of the few states bankrupt by 2012, she will have proven herself as a decent government manager. Something this country needs desperately.
I hope she runs. But only if MSNBC is off the air, which may be true by 2012, it's ratings are so bad.
The NY Times and other lib rags will have to up their readership and dump the one party propoganda machines otherwise they will be reminants and long gone too.

You probably still think that the WMDs are waiting to be found in Iraq.

==

No they think that Saddam had them secreted away so his country would fall to invaders, his sons killed and and himself captured and handed over to a lynch mob, so the soldiers wouldn't find any WMDs and that would make Bush *look bad*

What started as a serious but manageable banking crisis, is now a full blown economic circus. Unemployment will exceed 10% this Summer, the dollar will collapse and oil and food prices will skyrocket as a result of BHO's mindless economic policies to socialize large sectors of the economy. He's being tested on the world stage on a weekly basis. America's enemies smell blood in the water and it will get significantly worse for America before it gets any better. By the middle of this term, the world and more importantly the American people will have judged BHO a colossal failure. Either you liberals haven't been paying attention or are you hopelessly trapped in the MSM's echo chamber.

Palin 2012. Change you'll be begging for.

Posted by: mongoose1 | June 3, 2009 9:15 PM | Report abuse

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If the banking crisis was so manageable, why did Bush and the rest of his conservative incompetents mismanage it?

You probably still think that the WMDs are waiting to be found in Iraq.

I can only wonder why we keep hearing about this harpy, her fifteen minutes were up a long time ago. Just goes to show how empty of ideas the GOP is, trying to appeal to the gun- and religion-dependent Base who think she's taitched by the "holy spirit." Oogle boogle aggle blaggle.

FYI: Obama currently has a press "clipping service" so, presumably, many are put in front of him too (in addition to the Presidential Daily Briefing). As noted, in another thread, that's no guarantee he's actually reading any of them.

==

Obama is a busy man with advanced time-management skills and he has more immediately-available knowledge than anyone since Bill Clinton.

Funny how you don't give Obama any credit yet you scream and mewl about Palin being such an intellect, when she couldn't even name a single newspaper she reads. Yeah "all of them." Name one. Couldn't.

Yeah Palin the "maverick" was going to come to "Warshington" with a "thin resume" and that was to be her "qualifications." That and being able to see Russia from "an island in Alaska." She of the donkey-tail hairdo.

That anyone would still support her for any kind of responsible position is simply grotesque. Add in the constant name-mangling savaging of Obama and you have defined some laughably deranged people.

Hmmm, a lot of signs say this recession is bottoming out. So of course the gooper trolls are hoping we go into a full Depression and hoping further that the electorate is as stupid and malleable as the gun- and religion-gripping GOP base and that they'll forget who was president when the economy tanked.

Unfortunately it'll take a little more than a steady stream of lies in a few blogs for that.

Abraham Lincoln's formal education consisted of a total 18 months of schooling -- he was largely self-educated and an avid reader -- Lincoln studied law books on Common Law on his own by memorizing borrowed treatises or those supplied to him by mail order, reading them while the State Legislature was not in session.

==

And Lenin got a law degree without going to law school. What's your point, Jake? Lincoln was an autodidact, Palin had to go to five colleges to get an "degree" in sports journalism.

You comparing that scumbag to Abraham Lincoln? She doesn't even read books at all.

Now that the Global Financial Crisis has set-in I am confident that most of her 2008 supporters now recognise that the world's Crisis needs sound management. Bush showed us that slogans and ideology are not a good substitute for intelligent and rational management.

Palin does not have sound strategies and we all know that if she is put in charge of the White House her notions of good government will lead to calamity.

What started as a serious but manageable banking crisis, is now a full blown economic circus. Unemployment will exceed 10% this Summer, the dollar will collapse and oil and food prices will skyrocket as a result of BHO's mindless economic policies to socialize large sectors of the economy. He's being tested on the world stage on a weekly basis. America's enemies smell blood in the water and it will get significantly worse for America before it gets any better. By the middle of this term, the world and more importantly the American people will have judged BHO a colossal failure. Either you liberals haven't been paying attention or are you hopelessly trapped in the MSM's echo chamber.

P.S. as the QUOTE and VIDEO prove, Gov. Palin read "all" the newspapers "that have been put in front of me all these years." That does not, necessarily, include all newspapers published in the world, nor even the WaPo (heck, I probably wouldn't even admit to reading that ; )

Posted by: JakeD | June 3, 2009 8:47 PM
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Come on. She said "all" because she couldn't even name one. Not even her hometown paper. Couric pressed her to "name" one and she couldn't. And Mac's staff (allegedly) admitted she was an idiot. They couldn't even trust her to give a concession speech because they knew had planned some unhinged stunt. Sad.
What gets me is the Phalinites are the same ones who bash Sonia who was 2d in her class at Princeton. Strange world.

Should Gov Palin run again? No. She should accept as many speaking engagements as possible on either left coast. (LA or NYC) Get HER beliefs in blogs, op-eds, and videos. The outdated art of thinking has given way to instant online access and squealifying your point (my word, if I get enough people to make enough noise, we must be right). Aside to those of you... Obama wants to be the FIRST black president not the ONLY black president.

FYI: Obama currently has a press "clipping service" so, presumably, many are put in front of him too (in addition to the Presidential Daily Briefing). As noted, in another thread, that's no guarantee he's actually reading any of them. He hasn't even finished the novel he started back in April (way off pace when compared to Bush ; )

P.S. as the QUOTE and VIDEO prove, Gov. Palin read "all" the newspapers "that have been put in front of me all these years." That does not, necessarily, include all newspapers published in the world, nor even the WaPo (heck, I probably wouldn't even admit to reading that ; )

JakeD - I am sorry. I really am a Swedish style socialist, an honest to god Jeffersonian liberal, and her policies and mine wouldn't likely agree. I have been venting my frustration and outrage at the dishonesty and fanaticism of people here who call themselves "liberals". The aren't. They are a collection of cowards, intellectually dishonest buffoons, mindless Obamacan gerbils, perverts, and self serving suicidal suckers. Please don't judge liberals or socialism by the dishonest nonsense these brain dead nut jobs blather. There may come a time when we can have honest debates about policy, but we will need to clear the room of these cockroaches first.

"if Alaska does have newspapers and magazine why was it so hard for the good governor to name at least one! Gov Palin couldn't muster up a single newspaper or magazine that she had read the day of the Couric interview. Whose fault is that! Couric is a extremely lite wheight interviewer and Palin flunted miserably on a test she should have already had the answers to!"

The funny thing is that not only could she not name a single paper, she also seemed to be unaware that there are far too many for her to read every single one. You read ALL the papers, Ms. Palin? Yeah? Really?

BTW, did the black guy who set up the stage at Phalin hate rallies and then sometimes, no, usually, no, ALWAYS, seemed to get the snot beaten out of him by Phalin "supporters" after the rallies (allegedly) -- did he have health insurance? Just askin'.

What?? You're comparing her to Abe Lincoln. Are you nuts? She has yet to answer Couric's brainbuster question: Name any newspapers you have read? Still waiting. Mac's campaign stated publicly Phalin had NO awareness of any policy issue from "the last TEN years"! Her mind was a complete blank.
_____

Famous quotes:
Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you...."
Churchill: "This was our finest hour."
Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I have a dream."
Franklin Roosevelt: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Harry Truman: "The buck stops here."
Mrs. Todd Phalin: "Where's the ladies' room?"

Sure she ought to run... for dog catcher. We don't need that hypocrite running for anything else...

Posted by: 4Jaxon | June 3, 2009 7:56 PM
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Maybe she could audition for Rock of Love 16 with Bret Michaels. And then get thrown off on the first episode for not getting along with the other, uh, "ladies."

Seriously, who cares whether she runs; she's a non-entity to everyone 'cept maybe Greg, er, Greta Van Susteren, who may be looking to "interview" Phalin again.

Abraham Lincoln's formal education consisted of a total 18 months of schooling -- he was largely self-educated and an avid reader -- Lincoln studied law books on Common Law on his own by memorizing borrowed treatises or those supplied to him by mail order, reading them while the State Legislature was not in session.

On the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, Gov. Sarah Palin sat down with Gibson for the first two of three interviews, discussing national security and then energy policy and climate change.

The interviews took place in Alaska Thursday immediately before and after a deployment ceremony for her son Track, 19, a private in the U.S. Army who will leave for Iraq later this month.

Palin, just two years into her first term as governor, made a name for herself as a "reformer" and used the day's second interview to trumpet her record of taking on Big Oil and the Republican mandarins of Alaska.

Sarah Palin running for President (shiver!), is a good way to further divide the party (not mine) between the corporate overlords and the pitchfork and garlic posse. I only hope the economy improves so a third party of the pharmeceuticals, hawks, and globel warmers does not result. With an economy not improving, that could draw more blood than Lieberman from the democrats.

"As an Alaskan who has been offended over and over by this woman, here are her basic problems:

1. She's dumb.
2. She's a right wing extremist.
3. She's vindictive and and people continue to get thrown under her bus. The list gets longer and longer.
4. She's self-absorbed and as governor she hasn't managed to put Alaska's best interests in front of her personal ambitions-- she's leveraging her position as governor in parasitic ways.
5. For the reasons above and others her popularity in Alaska will continue to drop. She burns bridges and they stay burned. The same goes for her national reputation.
6. Finally, she thinks anyone who disagrees with her is "evil." If you read her personal emails, "evil" is one of her favorite words describing people who disagree with her.

As far as I can tell, Charley James, the Internet journalist from laprogressive.com who broke "S@mbogate," was the only media person to actually travel to Alaska and find out the REAL scoop on Phalin. He actually interviewed people (unlike the Beltway boys) and collected facts. The rest of the MSM was more interested in foolishly bloviating about her 41-inch personality than in reporting. Your information totally confirms Charley's brilliant reporting.

Great Palin quote: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer' -- except that you have actual responsibilities -- I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

Hey Jake, I wrote software at dotcoms during the day, we met lots of MBAs. Talk about a bunch of know-nothings.

Most engineers know something about the arts, most scientists too, most liberal arts majors know something about the sciences. MBAs mostly don't know anything about anything. I met a Harvard MBA who couldn't name the solar planets or the top line of the periodic table (H and He for crying out loud).

Richard MILHOUS Nixon was also "defined" once upon a time and defeated in the Governor's race here in California (1962): "You won't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference ..."

As she goes to the GOP base she'll alienate the great middle of the electorate,

==

Anyone seeking the GOP nomination and hoping to win election has the same problem. Appeals to the base and appeals to the middle are irreconcilable. McCain lurched form one to the other and lost support with each lurch. The GOP base is simply too nutty, too extreme, has too tenuous a grip on reality to be congruent with any majority of American voters.

palin will get my vote and support if she decides to run in 20l2, assuming the chinese haven't repossessed washington in partial payment of what we now owe them. obama lied and bought his way into the white house this time and there may not be anything left by 2012. palin's honesty, drive, and intelligence and ability to work with both parties as well as the ability to pick good advisors will see her through. i also like the way she doesn't take crap off of anybody. the bluenoses and thiefs in washington need to be thrown out and i think palin can get the job done, and put the u.s. back on course again.
dennisintn

"All of them, any of them that have been put in front of me all these years."

==

If she had actually read anything should would have done like anyone else who reads: named them.

Any of us who read news sources can name them easily. Asked what books we've read recently, we could name them.

Palin not only dodged into generality, she did so with passivity; she reads what others put in front of her. Not exactly the embodiment of a "take charge" personality. More like the way canaries get newspapers.

Chris serves up raw meat, a t-ball for the feeding frenzy of the Obama gerbil's and, predictably, everyone falls into line. Look, Bozo's, Palin has about as much chance of being elected President as Barney the Purple Dinosaur. Given the way she has been portrayed, it;s doubtful she could be re-elected governor. No one has any idea at all if she would be good, bad, or indifferent. What we got is CHris and the Posts painting of her. Chris, here, is merely keeping the you brain dead members of the Peanut Gallery in an appropriate mindset. Blithering bunch of idiots, al of you. And, Chris, shame on you.

LOL!!! The Harvard MBA (he was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top five percent of his class) and JD (graduating cum laude) knows a little more about business than Obama. I guess there won't be any respect for Winter Olympic games after 2012 either?

Also, it wasn't "so hard" for her to name at least one. What she actually said was that she read all of them they give her.

==

You sure lie a lot, and you dodge around the truth playing word games. While it was Tina Fey who said that she can see Russia from "my house," it was Palin who said that being able to see Russia from "an island in Alaska" qualified as foreign policy credentials. You meant to imply that Palin made no such statement at all, when in fact what she actually said was hardly less idiotic than saying it about her house.

You would say in this instance that you didn't lie. Most anyone would say you did.

That "The Line" is actually for influence in the GOP, though I'll grant you that WMR should be currently considered the frontrunner for the 2010 GOP Presidential nomination

==

That's great news for the Democrats. Romney has the personality of one of those cutouts one sees in a video store. He's plastic and one-dimensional and his appeal is based on ideas like the now-dead esteem for corporate executive types that no longer matter to most of us

I wasn't aware that (print) newspapers were the "basics of life" (especially in remote Alaska -- that must come as NEWS to the Eskimos -- I wouldn't be surprised if "newspapers" are a thing of the past by 2012 or 2016). Also, it wasn't "so hard" for her to name at least one. What she actually said was that she read all of them they give her.

Posted by: jack71 |
I think Katie thought Alaska had no magazines or newspapers. She thought only New York and Washington had things like that.
-----------------------------------------
Well jack71,
if Alaska does have newspapers and magazine why was it so hard for the good governor to name at least one! Gov Palin couldn't muster up a single newspaper or magazine that she had read the day of the Couric interview. Whose fault is that! Couric is a extremely lite wheight interviewer and Palin flunted miserably on a test she should have already had the answers to!

It cracks me up to hear you right-wingers excuse yourselves for being shamefully ignorant about the basics of life!

Well I think you have to be smarter to be a Governor. Being a Senator means being just one of 50 votes.. and new Senators are pretty much told how to vote anyway.. But Governor? Running a state is much harder, you have control a budget and make final decisions.

==

That depends on the state. The Texas governorship is all but a ceremonial post, all Bush ever did was sign death warrants. I honestly don't know how demanding the governorship is in Alaska but there is no doubt Palin is an intellectual featherweight and her morals are utterly abhorrent. I meant what I said about her toxicity; her speech at the RNC convention, that chirpy-little-girl routine she puts on, smiling at yells for assassination at her rallies, she is loathsome.

I would like to see Sarah Palin run as the Republican Party's presidential nominee just for the pure comedy of it. Sarah Palin made George W Bush look like a mensa member. It is amazing she got elected governor. When you look up "Airhead" in the dictionary you see a picture of Sarah Palin.

As an Alaskan who has been offended over and over by this woman, here are her basic problems:

1. She's dumb.
2. She's a right wing extremist.
3. She's vindictive and and people continue to get thrown under her bus. The list gets longer and longer.
4. She's self-absorbed and as governor she hasn't managed to put Alaska's best interests in front of her personal ambitions-- she's leveraging her position as governor in parasitic ways.
5. For the reasons above and others her popularity in Alaska will continue to drop. She burns bridges and they stay burned. The same goes for her national reputation.
6. Finally, she thinks anyone who disagrees with her is "evil." If you read her personal emails, "evil" is one of her favorite words describing people who disagree with her.

"The stories of two very different lives with similar fates crossed through the media's hands yesterday - both equally important but one lacked the proper attention. The death of 67-year old George Tiller was unacceptable, but equally disgusting was another death that police believe was politically and religiously motivated as well.

William Long died yesterday. The 23-year old Army Recruiter was gunned down by a fanatic; another fellow soldier was wounded in the ambush. The soldiers had just completed their basic training and were talking to potential recruits, just as my son, Track, once did.

Whatever titles we give these murderers, both deserve our attention. Violence like that is no way to solve a political dispute nor a religious one. And the fanatics on all sides do great disservice when they confuse dissention with rage and death."

Given the meteoric fall of Palin's popularity in Alaska, she may NOT be re-electable as governor...In fact, if you follow the Alaska Daily News, Shannyn Moore, Mudflats and others in Alaska, Palin may get run into debtors prison before the end of this year since she can't pay her legal bills!!

Palin is like a huge hunk of lead around the throats of the remaining rational Republicans (not many left) and if she keeps opening her mouth when she should be keeping it shut she'll soon fade into oblivion where she belongs...footnote...

No, it's not. She needs to crawl into her little corner and leave government to the grownups.
Posted by: Alex511
_____
If goverment was just for grownups I can think of a lot of people who should leave government..

She isn't smart enough to be a Senator, sovine. That's an irresponsible suggestion.
Posted by: chrisfox8
____
Well I think you have to be smarter to be a Governor. Being a Senator means being just one of 50 votes.. and new Senators are pretty much told how to vote anyway.. But Governor? Running a state is much harder, you have control a budget and make final decisions. If she can handle being a Governor she can certainly handle being a Senator.. (BTW have you taken a close look at our Senators lately.. not really rocket scientist in the bunch)

Distracting attention away from the issue at hand. Not only did Sotomayor commit the "wise Latina" fumble but in the very next sentence she raised the possibility that people of different races ''have basic differences in logic and reasoning.''
Bigotry of any kind is despicable and Sotomayor reeks of it.

Distracting attention away from the issu at hand. Not only did Sotomaor say the wise Latina fumble but in the very next sentence she raised the possibility that people of different races ''have basic differences in logic and reasoning.''
Bigotry of any kind is despicable and Sotomayor reeks of it.

Until we hear from Bobby Jindal, who is too preciously guarded of a figure for the future of the party to send up against an incumbent Obama administration with, currently, all the political momentum in the world, 2012 is an argument over who would make the best straw man for the Republicans to throw up against Obama. And I'd say that Palin has every chance to be as illustrative of a need to redefine the Republican Party's power structure as Michael Dukakis was for the Dems. She is everything the country is wary of in a Republican candidate right now, although the fervor she creates among the Republican base may be more comparable to George McGovern in the straw man category.

Her knowledge of history is about as weak as her foreign relations and geography skills. No losing vice presidential candidate since 1900 has ever come back and been the presidential candidate in a future election, no less won the presidential election. Unless you're a bible hugging, gun nut who cares more for unborn fetus' rather than dying American troops she doesn't stand a chance of getting a vote. Her best bet for the future is to replace Tina Fey on SNL.

Don't know why Palin would bother with a run for president in 2012. Would you want to endure the current crop of losers in Washington? She excels as a chief executive at the state level, and appears to relish the task. Besides, it appears that there won't be anything left to do as president by then other than to sell off any remaining federal assets to the Chinese...

the only reason the Republicans had a chance of winning in 2008 was because of straight speaking Sarah Palin!!! I hope she runs for President in 2012 she has my vote.Posted by: sunnymaids | June 3, 2009
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you people just don't get it... republicans never had a chance in 2008. from the time without palin and after palin, numbers never moved, why don't you repugs get this? Obama won the election after mcshame claimed the economy was sound!

Sarah Palin has absolutely no chance whatsoever of being elected president in 2012 under any circumstances.

However, if I were a Republican strategist, this is what I would advise her to do:

Run for reelection next year. Stay out of the national limelight as best you can for the next several years.

In 2014, challenge Begich for the U.S. Senate seat. If you win, spend the next six to twelve years learning something about foreign policy, read some newspapers (you might even want to try some books, but they're a little harder).

THEN you can take a look around and see your options. Maybe a cabinet appointment or head of the RNC or something.

The problem though, is that Palin and her first dude have had a taste of life as national celebrities, and after that, it's kind of hard going back to ordering state flags lowered for Dutch Harbor Remembrance Day.

The comparisons to Pawlenty and Romney are weak. In the case of Pawlenty, most folks feel 2 terms as governor are enough - 3 is pushing it and reason enough to not run again. In the case of Romney, certainly one reason he did not run for re-election is that he would have lost badly. Palin seems to be loosing ground, but is not as bad off as Romney. Beyond that, both Clinton and Bush proved it is quite possible to run for president as sitting governor. You simply dump all the work off on staff and the lt. governor. If, however, Sarah ran, I would not be voting for her.

The most astute comment I've read thus far is the speculation on how the other GOP candidates will savage her during the primaries. That'll go both ways because she's pretty caustic herself, but it will be entertaining.
Least astute comment - squirrel stoning inciting someone to rage. Little bastards eat my plants so I slingshot 'em on sight - guns are tough to discharge in NJ after all. Tasty eatin', PETA folks.

Sarah Palin is the only person who speaks the truth. Her speaking abilities were proven in the vice-presidential debates . I will not vote Republician unless Sara Palin is the nominee. Otherwise I will vote independant. I am done with the Republicans in Democrat cloths. The Republican Party better wise up and start acting and speaking like the Founding Fathers instead of like The fence rider JOhn McCain. Sorry John McCain you try to play it both ways and it didn't work. To many liberal votes John, the only reason the Republicans had a chance of winning in 2008 was because of straight speaking Sarah Palin!!! I hope she runs for President in 2012 she has my vote.......

Do you really think any sane person cares what a drolling hate filled moonbat thinks?

you have no self-awareness at all do you? Even Obambi quit your church and denied knowing you people very well. If the most leftist pol in decades can't stand you, who do you think does? clearly not your family based on your time here.

It's probably wise for Palin to run again for governor. She has a great chance to be reelected while a small chance to win the Republican nomination and smaller still to win the Presidency in 2012. To me her best route is to stay governor and look to run for Ted Stevens old Senate seat next time.. That will get her to Washingtion.. then look again at the White House in 2016.

Her main problem is the common perception of her intelligence. That's really it.

It's not that liberals think she is stupid (they do). It's that independents are not sure. That Diane Sawyer interview popped her image like a balloon. Since then her entire political strategy has been damage control and damage avoidance. She has stuck to giving stump speeches to the base, and blaming the media when her approval ratings go down.

Is Palin an intelligent, insightful, politician who is passionsate about the issues? I suspect not, but I'm willing to let her prove me wrong. To do that, she needs to step out of all comfort zones. No more Republican sound bites. No more diatribes in reaction to Democrats; let's hear her affirmative ideas. Above all she needs to give interviews, LOTS of candid, unscripted interviews with reporters who are not from FOX.

Her main problem is the common perception of her intelligence. That's really it.

It's not that liberals think she is stupid (they do). It's that independents are not sure. That Diane Sawyer interview popped her image like a balloon. Since then her entire political strategy has been damage control and damage avoidance. She has stuck to giving stump speeches to the base, and blaming the media when her approval ratings go down.

Is Palin an intelligent, insightful, politician who is passionsate about the issues? I suspect not, but I'm willing to let her prove me wrong. To do that, she needs to step out of all comfort zones. No more Republican sound bites. No more diatribes in reaction to Democrats; let's hear her affirmative ideas. Above all she needs to give interviews, LOTS of candid, unscripted interviews with reporters who are not from FOX.

Ms. Palin is wise to bail from a sinking ship. She has nowhere to go but down given the current fiscal problems facing Alaska. Of course, the fact that she ran Alaska in the ground will not be ignored if she runs for President. Personally, I hope she runs for President whether or not she runs for gov. in 2010. Another Obama landslide will provide the political capital that Obama needs to implement the changes he will initiate during his first term.

Chris, I agree with you about the animal cruelty issue-- I sign every petition I get from Defenders of Wildlife about it! It's the rhetoric. Thanks for seeing my point. We change no minds toward understanding our positions by anger.

Ms. Palin is wise to bail from a sinking ship. She has nowhere to go but down given the current fiscal problems facing Alaska. Of course, the fact that she ran Alaska in the ground will not be ignored if she runs for President. Personally, I hope she runs for President whether or not she runs for gov. in 2010. Another Obama landslide will provide the political capital that Obama needs to implement the changes he will initiate during his first term.

She's free to do as she pleases, but Palin isn't taken seriously as a thinker and policy maker... fairly or not. Reagan set the mold for the anti-intellectual GOP archetype, and GW Bush played on this archetype to his advantage in two election cycles. However, because GW Bush represents a failed administration, the same detached archetype is not a winning formula for the GOP to push on the country the next time around. We're currently reaping the benefits of an intellectual and charismatic president in Obama. Romney is a logical candidate to send against Obama because he is as difficult to define as Obama, while also bringing a fair amount of charisma and proven intellectual capacity. He'll still lose to Obama, but not as badly as Palin would.

And Chrisfox-- I agree with you on almost everything, but do cool it on the rants. I can't believe I'm agreeing with vbhoomes (must be a cold day in Hell!), but he's right-- the comment about Palin's helicopter crashing is way, WAY over the line. I despise her "hobby" (shooting wolves from copters) too, but the rhetoric is not OK.

Posted by: dcgrasso1

==

Harumph. OK.

When it comes to cruelty to animals I tend to snap. Came on a guy throwing rocks at a squirrel once and I'm damned lucky there were no cops around. Sorry.

I don't want her to run even though her candidacy would men the Democrats could win no matter who they ran against her. I don't want her to run because her brand of rhetoric is to toxic and sick, and poisonous to a representative democracy. We'll be hearing her "it's like a community organizer" ugliness for months. No.

As I recall, polls during the election season showed Gov. Palin's positive numbers steadily sinking, and her negatives steadily rising, in ALASKA. While she'd probably be handily reelected, I doubt it would be with the margin that she got in 2004. For that matter, she won by a plurality (48.3%, while Tony Knowles, the Democratic candidate, got 40.9%-- this info is per Wikipedia).

The U.S. is beginning to get off an oil-based economy. Alaska's resources in that area will steadily become of less value as time goes on, as oil consumption drops due to fewer gas guzzlers, more sources of alternative energy become available, etc. Alaskans would do better to plan for a future with, say, eco-tourism as a larger part of their economy. Gov. Palin is pushing for the economic policies of the past.

And Chrisfox-- I agree with you on almost everything, but do cool it on the rants. I can't believe I'm agreeing with vbhoomes (must be a cold day in Hell!), but he's right-- the comment about Palin's helicopter crashing is way, WAY over the line. I despise her "hobby" (shooting wolves from copters) too, but the rhetoric is not OK.

"[Gov.] Palin is the prime mover in Republican politics. An example: when Cantor unveiled the National Council for a New America, the first question asked by every reporter was whether Palin was involved and, if not, why not. (She, eventually, said she would be involved.) Palin remains an extremely powerful brand in Republican politics despite her (and her team's) unwitting attempts to devalue that brand. (Previous ranking: 6)

1. Mitt Romney: The former Massachusetts governor claims the top spot for the third straight Line. Why? He is still the Republican that is the closest the party has to the complete package. Romney can -- and does -- speak from a position of authority on economic issues and has begun to broaden his criticism of Obama to include the sphere of foreign policy as well. On the political front, Romney is unmatched -- he has kept an active presence via his Free and Strong America PAC and continues to travel the country in support of candidates. (Previous ranking: 1)"

The underlying assumption, of course, is that SHP wants to be serious GOP contender in 2012. The calculus she must make is whether she (and her handlers) think BHO will be sufficiently vulnerable in 2012 for a R to overcome the inherent weaknesses currently in the party. I can't imagine that SHP has more than one full-fledged Presidential run in her, particularly with a Down's syndrome kid at home. As we saw with BHO and McC, Presidential campaigns start at least two years before the election. That's a long time to be an absentee parent.

Hunting is not my thing but I grew up in suburbs not Alaska. No chrisfox I do not need to surf elsewhere because I find your comments depraved and filled with hate. People who hate like you do need to be challenged, you are no different than people who belong to the KKK. Hate is Hate my friend, and you have a lot of it. Get some counseling before you turn into a mass murderer.

Palin can run for president in 2012 but should she? The question about her image is the least of her problems and her being smart,who can judge really.Think about her vice president run, she was not in charge and mostly was told what to do and when to do it.When you are running for the main spot everything changes etc. The problem with Sarah is not the"image or smarts" its the message.She will regurgitate the same old message of the republican mantra.She will be seen as agreeing with the likes of Rush and the blowhards of the republican party.She will not be able to thread the middle because she will be cast aside and pounced on.So until she and the party can moderate their message to fit the needs of the American people, she and the rest of the republicas will not be viables candidates.
They will be regurgitate the same old mantra, tax breaks for the super rich, tax heavens for the rich, national security{sending your kids to war and threatening every nations that may disagree with America}.They will talk about healthcare, how the free market will resolve everything and they will not be able explain how under this mantra the un-insured soared under the republicans.
We all have heard this before and didnt like it and thats why Obama won. Same message they will deliver, same results.

We need to keep Sara Palin around - the late night comics need material for their shows. If Palin decides not to 'take a chance in 2012', let's all push for Tina Fey to "do her pageant walk". Chances are Fey would win more votes than Palin could possibly hope for. EASher

keep telling us about all of these GOP 2012 presidential hopefuls, who will only garner the votes of "the base". The country is tired of "the base" ruling, but that is a concept not getting through to alot of GOPers.

To start with Chris, she wasn't picked by John McCain, she was picked by "the base". And she catered to and pandered to "the base".

==

Ultimately the choice was McCain's to make and for him to put someone as grotesquely unqualified within a heartbeat of the presidency was rock-sold evidence of the unsoundness of his judgment. On the heels of his campaign suspension it showed him to be impulsive and unfocused.

Not that she cost him the election, he was already losing. But it cost him plenty.

And oh, yeah, by 2012 she'll be getting quite matronly do don't count on the T&A vote either.

subhuman monster, there you go again chrisfox, maybe she's not your cup of tea but dehumanizing her does not aid a civil political discourse. I can not think of anybody on your side that would cause me to do what you do.

To start with Chris, she wasn't picked by John McCain, she was picked by "the base". And she catered to and pandered to "the base". Hers were the rallies the Secret Service worried about the most, with the angry racial undertones, sometimes in the open hostility to Obama by supporters. She will be seen as another GOPer running to satisfy the base, and that's all she'll appeal to, the base. She certainly is not a moderate, she is not an intellectual heavyweight;she was already shown to turn off independents and swing voters, but you go right ahead and keep telling us about all of these GOP 2012 presidential hopefuls, who will only garner the votes of "the base". The country is tired of "the base" ruling, but that is a concept not getting through to alot of GOPers.

Please don't compare Palin to Dan Quayle. Quayle is a conservative and a dim bulb but he isn't a monster, even when he was the butt of endless jokes he found time to spend with his kids, helping them with homework, being a good father. I don't like his politics but he's an OK guy.

There is nothing OK about Palin. She deserves to have her copter crash on one of her shooting expeditions and her legs devoured alive by wolves.

It may be a rough time to be a governor right now, and Alaska is not entirely an exception. But given how a lot of other states look right now, if I had to be a governor somewhere, Alaska would be fairly high on my list. Oil keeps the state's coffers full, and a financial crisis in Alaska is equal to a day's deficit spending in California, which is to say that Alaska can quite easily solve any budget problems in comparison to most other states.

The left and right are united. Everybody wants Sarah to run for everything. We can't get enough of Sarah, Levi, and the whole gang. In 4 years the country might be tired of an intelligent and competent President. We all may be clamoring for a return to a close-minded, incompetent, Christianist wack-job who values loyalty above all else.

And travel to/from Alaska is no problem. If Sarah is willing to endanger the life of her baby by getting on a plane after her water breaks for a 10 hour flight to Alaska, she will go anywhere, anytime if it furthers her political ambition.

If Sarah Palin run for President in 2012 all we will see and hear about this Candidate is Bristol's baby. Levi demanding visitation, Todd telling Bristol..."I'll buy you a new car if you dump Levi". Although we're talking about 2012. I'm saving up for my popcorn and hot dogs for this Jerry Springer favorite.

Running for President is a full time job. If she decides to run for Prez, then she should skip running for another term as Gov. Alaska deserves a full time governor. I going to be working for Mitt, if he wins, I like to see Sarah get the EPA job or Interior.

I'll leave this one to the conservatives to fret over. Outside certain small and shrinking circles of influence, I don't really think it makes a whit of difference what she does and I'm fine with any outcome she's likely to get.

"there is a strong argument to be made that if she wants to be a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 her best bet would be to take a pass on a second term."

Has the GOP ever nominated a candidate with comparable experience?

Given that the GOP's best hope for having an opening is if the economy is not showing signs of improvement, their smartest move at that point would be to nominate a candidate with a bit more gravitas. In short, if Obama & his team can't get it done, its hard to see how Palin sails in and makes a compelling argument that she's better suited to the job.

The question is whether she knows what she is doing now. She did very few interviews during her run as VP, but she managed to expose herself as quite incompetent. If she goes for the top job, she will face far more scrutiny for a far longer period of time. Gaffes are tolerable, but a lack of understanding of the issues is not. She has enough star power to overcome the logistical hurdles such as being from Alaska, but she hasn't made a very good first impression. This is further complicated by the fact that the media doesn't control reality the way they used to. No matter how many times the pundits declared Palin the winner of her debate, the public refused to believe that. She needs to raise herself to at least Bush level of competence.

I agree with your assessment; however the answer to the question of should she run is a simple no. In Alaska, she is a big fish in a small pond. She stands out among a group of fifty governors because she is attractive - a rose between many thorns so to speak. She would use her limited appeal to its greatest potential if she would instead endorse candidates from afar and conduct publicity tours and fundraising events on request.

Note closely the earing in the photo... clearly a hammer & sickle, proving that Sarah Palin is actually a Communist front candidate; she can see Russia? I'll bet she's from Russia--how come McCain never produced her birth certificate?

sarah palin has been tarred with the same image problem as dan quail; to be direct, that she's not intelligent. unlike VP quail, governor palin does not come from wealth and inspires passion among "the base", in part, for her perceived common-sense conservatism. some would say this notion that she's not smart enough is mainly an issue in blue states, which she would not anyway win. This view underestimates the problem. despite a good staff, VP quail seemed never really able to stand on his own two feet and articulate a coherent vision. if governor palin believes she can transform herself to be skillful and passionate in enumerating issues, connecting people to them and articulating how to resolve them, she may be able to overcome the problem. I'm not talking about trying to be like president obama; more like huey long (in style). my sense, however, is that this capability is beyond her and she would be well-served to deepen her connection to the home constituency in alaska than to run for president.

She should run for re-election in Alaska. While she may have some populist appeal to the Republican base, she has no future as a national candidate for two reasons:

1. Her image was unalterably demolished by her performance during the 2008 campaign, particularly the interview with Katie Couric. If you can't answer a relatively simple question about what magazines and newspapers you read, you have no business trying to run the country.

2. The invisible hands that manipulate the levers of power in the Republican party know her now and, while they may laud her publicly as a darling of conservatives, they realize that she is unelectable on a national level. They will do everything the can to kill her chances behind the scenes.

Unless Obama screws up royally, 2012 will be a rebuilding year for Republicans. They may nominate an arch-conservative so the "moderate" they run in 2016 stands a better chance, but it likely won't be Palin.

She is not "rich" (at least by comparison to Obama -- also getting free public housing and transportation -- or by any other reasonable standard). Of course, every U.S. citizen is "rich" simply by the luck of being born here. She is also getting an advance on her upcoming book, and donations from around the country.

While I agree with Mr. Cillizza's argument IF she wants to be a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, that's not the only option. For instance, if she wants to be a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, she should publically back Romney this time around and run for re-election as Governor instead ; )

How do you quit your job and move to Washington DC without a job or any money? Are all Republicans so rich they can quit their jobs on a whim and live free and unencumbered without any financial worries.

I wish I could quit my job and focus on getting a better job with better pay, and no pay for at least two years and live in Washington DC for free, as well.

It sure is nice to be rich. I guess if you become a politician, like Ted Stevens or Sarah Palin you can get rich just like they did. Obviously Sarah studied Ted as her mentor.

Palin a serious presidential contender? Nothing I have seen or heard from or about her convinces me that she is presidential material. Of course, with the GOP so far removed from reality these days, one might envision Palin as their standard bearer. Might even be that the Democrats are salivating at the possibility she will be selected by Republicans as their last gasp effort to win the T and A crowd of white males. Self-immolation at its best.